The many faces of your slice

By T.J. TOMASI

Ninety percent of right-handed golfers aim to the right when they first take up the game, so they are forced to spin their shoulders in an attempt to pull the ball back to the target. The right-to-right slice starts to the right of your target and then inexorably moves more right until it disappears from sight. Of all the slices, this one can leave the playing field the quickest.

Since the ball is flying so far right, it’s an instinctive adjustment to open your stance, aiming to the left of the target. But now the ball starts way left and slices back toward the target (the baby boomer).

Aiming left works until you make a good release and square the face, resulting in a pull way left of target. To correct the pull, you introduce a chicken-winged front arm that opens the face at impact, causing a slice that finishes to the right of the target (the adult boomer).

To fix this, you aim even more left, employ more chicken wing, thus creating the mother of all boomerangs, the nuclear boomer, which starts way left and exits right of target. In a left-to-right crosswind it covers more territory than Lewis and Clark.

This natural evolution of your slice occurs over time, and it explains why there comes a time when you can no longer play your slice ­accurately because you’re not sure which slice you’re going to hit.

How to fix it

Your task is to start the ball right of target, then by making the changes below, spin the ball back toward target — a draw:

[1] Aim the clubface at the target, but swing to the right of target. Thus the face is closed to the path and you get a draw.

[2] Align hips and feet to the right with shoulders slightly closed. Remember, this only works if the face is aimed at the target.

[3] Move ball back in your stance two ball widths and tee it higher.

[4] Keep hands on the toe line during takeaway and make sure they are inside the clubhead.

[5] Starting back to the ball, loop the clubhead to the inside — feel as if you are tucking your hands in your right front pocket.

[6] Let you forearms rotate through impact to shut the face.